4 Reasons Your Glutes Aren’t Developing

If you’re like many people, one of your top goals on your to-do list for your workout protocol is to develop better looking glutes. Having that firm, rounded back-side is definitely something that you covet and desire, but yet it seems like no matter what you try, nothing gets you shaping up as you had hoped.

What gives?

And more importantly, what must you do to create that look?

Let’s go over four of the key reasons why your glutes may not be growing and what you can do to help yourself push past any plateau.

You Aren’t Lifting Weights

Let’s get this first big error out of the way – bodyweight movements.  Leg lifts, donkey kicks, or any other exercise that has you doing a movement without weights should be immediately banned from your workout program.

While you may ‘feel the burn’ with these movements, you aren’t actually going to boost your shape and definition with them.

If you want to add more size, you need to add more weight. Simple as that.

You’re Not Using Proper Mind-Muscle Connections

Think about this for a minute. When you go through your workout at the gym, are you really focusing in on each and every thing that you are doing?

Or are you just going through the movement patterns? Another big mistake that so many people make is just going through the movement patterns.

Think about each contraction you are doing.

This is going to be especially vital for glute training because if you don’t actually think fully about contracting the glutes as you move through the exercise, chances are high the hamstrings and quads are going to take over the movement pattern, rendering it less than effective.

Only if you think about the glutes really contracting with full force will you best call them into play.

You’re Using Poor Form

Moving along, the next tip to remember is to ensure you are using proper form as you go about your movement pattern.

For instance, when doing split squats, lean back ever so slightly so that you put more emphasis on the glute muscle versus the quad.

Likewise, when doing a leg press, place the feet slightly higher on the foot pad, which will give you more glute and hamstring focus.

Very little changes like this can make a big difference in terms of the overall development you see, so it’s not something to overlook.

You Aren’t Eating Sufficient Calories

Finally, the last reason your glutes may not be growing as you had hoped they would is if you aren’t eating enough calories. Remember, it takes fuel for growth to occur. If you simply just eat enough to sustain yourself, that’s all you’re going to do.

Double check and make sure that you are in that calorie surplus if you want to get growing. If you aren’t, step it up by 200 calories per week until you are.

As long as you are choosing healthy food choices, not eating too much over your maintenance requirements (250-500 calories is a good place to be), and working hard in the gym, you should see primarily lean muscle mass gains instead of excess fat gains.

So there you have the main reasons that your glute muscles aren’t responding as they should be. It’s time to take a good hard look at your workout protocol and see where you stand. Are you doing enough effective movements to really get the results you desire?

If not, make some changes so that you can start seeing the results you need from the gym.